Which fish is best? Restaurant owners weigh in on most popular Friday fish fry options.

WISCONSIN – Fish fries are a Friday night staple in Wisconsin. Whether they are served deep-fried, pan-fried, baked, broiled, with a side of coleslaw or a salad, next to french fries or a baked potato … you can’t go wrong. Or, can you?

Is there a specific type of fish that works best for a fish fry? Do restaurant patrons overwhelming prefer one variety over another?

One restaurant owner in Appleton says "yes."

Mark Dougherty owns Mark’s East Side, an Appleton restaurant that serves exclusively Icelandic haddock. He said he tried to change the menu once, years ago. Haddock fillets are pretty thin, and he wanted to serve a thicker fish at the restaurant.

Dougherty likes cod, so he switched the entire menu to Icelandic cod. It did not go well. The fish debacle had people heading straight for the exit doors.

“I had a mutiny on my hands,” Dougherty said. “People walked out. They demanded the haddock. I had some people telling me they wouldn’t come back unless we went back. That lasted about two weeks, and I switched my menu and everything back to haddock.”

Dougherty specifies his haddock is single-frozen, meaning it’s only frozen once between when the fish is caught and when it’s served, as opposed to others that are frozen multiple times from catch to plate.

The type of fish used for Friday night fish fries varies from place to place. Some places, like Mark’s East Side, stick to a signature fish. Others offer a handful of options on a selective fish fry menu. A few restaurants have a larger fish menu that features an array of options to choose from.

Owner James Greve said it’s a fish that holds its firmness a little better than others and it doesn’t shrink as you prepare it. He said it has a nice flakiness to it, while other types can get mushier.

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Three-piece beer-battered Alaskan pollock, served with French fries, bread and coleslaw, served at Kellner International.(Photo: Caitlin Shuda/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Other restaurant owners have a favorite but have also added other choices to their menu.

Tammie Schumacher is one of the owners of The Loading Zone Restaurant in Wausau, which was named a favorite fish fry spot in the Best of Marathon County 2018. She said they’ve always used cod loins, calling it a “nice white, flaky fish,” but they also offer walleye and perch.

Menus available from restaurants across Wisconsin show haddock, perch and cod to be among the most popular. Some serve walleye, catfish and bluegill, too. One restaurant in Two Rivers even offers flounder.

Many restaurants offer between one and three types of fish for their Friday special, but Port Sandy Bay in Two Rivers is an exception. Their expansive fish offerings include New England pike, perch, haddock, bluegill, smelt (when it’s in season) or a Fisherman’s Platter that includes scallops, shrimp and flounder.